


Recovery

by Lukester



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Depression, Hurt/Comfort, I had too many feelings from the TLJ trailer and this was the result, M/M, Mourning/Grieving (Not character death), The Robe™, Theyre both emotional and need help, Written prior to TLJ so no spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-31
Updated: 2018-01-31
Packaged: 2019-03-11 20:08:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13531626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lukester/pseuds/Lukester
Summary: Hux has lost his greatcoat during the destruction of Starkiller, among many other things. Kylo brings him something better (or so he hopes) to try and help.





	Recovery

**Author's Note:**

> No beta, so sorry for any errors!

It's been several months since the destruction of Starkiller base, but emotions and moral are still highly distraught throughout the ranks. The majority of the officers have learned to cope, too busy now with plans of rebuilding and keeping the Finalizer running at top-notch to have any moment to think about the incident. There are some that have not so easily learned to forget. 

The General stands high above the hangar, looking out of the viewport at the activity below. He watches pilots and maintenance workers pass by one another, others working on repairs and pushing carts around with spare parts. He watches with little interest; there is always one thing looming over all else in his mind that hinders his focus. His mind has replayed the same scene over and over: He ducks into a transport ship, pulling Kylo Ren along with him, and watches the massive explosion of Starkiller Base from the viewport as they take off to meet up with the Finalizer. His breath catches in his throat, his chest seizes up, and it feels like the universe has suddenly stopped. Everything he has worked for is gone in a sudden flash of flame. 

He turns from the viewport and begins to walk, his hands held behind his back out of habit. He isn't sure where his destination is - he is tired, and it is starting to become later into another night cycle. He knows that there are dark circles under his eyes, and he is much more thin and sickly looking, but he cannot bring himself to care. He knows that he should probably retire to his quarters to sleep (whatever little time that he can manage), but he can't. Sleep never comes easily, it never really had, and now he merely has to wait for exhaustion to take him until he can shut his eyes. His great loss has consumed his life, and was slowly eating away at him. In due time they will build anew; and a newer, greater Starkiller will be erected - but for now, he will heavily mourn the loss of the old. So he continues wandering the empty halls of the ship. 

As Hux walks, he feels the gentle hum of the cycled air supply system turn on, followed by the familiar chill that it brings. He reaches for his shoulder, to tug his greatcoat further over his shoulders - except that it isn't there. There had been no time to fuss about grabbing it the day of the incident, and it was soon forgotten about, until the night chill had crept into Hux's bones and there was no coat to be had to stave it off. Another thing to mourn perhaps; the familiar lost weight of it hanging from his shoulders as he walked, and the slight addition it made to his already slender physique. He releases a heavy sigh through his nose and drops his hand to his side. He decides to retire to his quarters for the night. 

/////////

The door to Hux's quarters slides open and closed silently as he enters, and the air is just as chilly here as it was throughout the rest of the ship. He steps over to his bed, sitting gently on the edge of it before pulling off his boots to set aside. It is surprising that he still has the energy, or rather the care, to take care of his uniform the same way he always has, and not just toss everything to the floor. Perhaps he just does it out of habit (at least some things could be saved from Starkiller). 

He removes his socks and pants, folding the latter up to join his uniform jacket and undershirt. The chill of the recycled air sends shivers over his skin, but he ignores them. Soon enough he can crawl under the covers to avoid it. 

He folds the rest of his uniform up and places it aside for the next day. He dreads thinking about the morning; waking up nowadays was tiring in itself when he was so restless at night. Pushing the thoughts aside, he crawls under the covers, curling in on himself when the chill of the sheets presses against his bare skin. He takes a few moments to wiggle around and settle in before he closes his eyes, hoping that sleep will come willingly for once. 

/////////

There isn't much time that passes before Hux opens his eyes again, awakened for an unknown reason. He never questions why anymore, only assuming that his body is just rejecting the idea of sleep entirely. It's a wonder that he wasn't dead by now. 

The General sits up regardless, rubbing at his tired eyes as he strains to see in the darkness. He doesn't want to call on the lights - his eyes are already sore enough - so he squints, just barely able to see the dark outlines of the furniture adorning the room. Nothing seems to be out of place, and nothing seems to have fallen or broken, so he rules out the possibility of a noise startling him awake. The next option would be an intruder, but that was unlikely. His quarters are locked by a passcode that only Hux himself knows, and anyone that wanted entry would have to re-enter it for the door to open. With all possible reasons regarded and debunked, he settles back down to try and sleep once more, though there was an uneasy feeling settling in his gut. 

Hux felt sleep slowly taking him over again, and he was grateful for it. He was absolutely exhausted, just like on any other night, but tonight seemed to promise an 'early' start to sleep. A slight feeling of the mattress dipping next to him had him awake again in seconds, the uneasy feeling starting to turn into panic. Someone, or something, was in the room with him. How they entered was unclear. Moments later, Hux feels something warm press against his arm, followed by a hushed, "Relax." 

Hux can't help but toss a blind smack in the direction of his night visitor, irritated from being woken up into a panic for nothing.

"Kriff, Ren, don't do that," he hisses, "You're lucky I didn't shoot you."

"You wouldn't have," Ren shifts onto his side to face Hux, despite the darkness hindering his view of the other man, "You're too tired." 

"I was just about to fall asleep, too," Hux huffs and flops back down against his pillow, pulling the blanket further over himself, "Why are you in here, anyway?" He would have to ask how Ren figured out the passcode later. 

"I wanted to find you earlier, but I couldn't," Ren replies, "You wander now, so it's hard to find you. So I checked here last." 

"I do not _wander,"_ Hux counters, "I make a routine walk every night to certain areas. Sometimes I switch it up to stave boredom and keep you on your toes." Kylo snorts quietly. 

"You didn't answer my question." 

Kylo shifts yet again, this time propping himself up on his elbow, "I have something for you." 

Hux raises a brow, though Kylo cannot see it, "A gift? Whatever for?" 

"You need it. I know it."

Hux rolls his eyes at Kylo's cryptic talk, but he is curious all the same. Kylo is not a sentimental person, not to mention the type of person who gives gifts. No one cares to remember birthdays, or celebrate any sort of gift-giving holidays; it was beneath them and unnecessary. Hux just wants to get this over with, so that he can sleep. 

Moments later, he feels Kylo's hand slide across the sheets to find his own, turning it over so that his palm faced upward. Kylo's hand disappears, and then something silky was handed to him.

"What is this." 

"Something you need, I think." 

Hux just blinks, thinking the whole situation was silly and unnecessary. What could Ren possibly be plotting, bringing him a 'gift' like this? Hux wanted to make a smart remark, 'How would you know what I need?' but he bit his tongue. He was tired and a bit unnerved from Kylo's unplanned entrance, and it would be easy enough to let his emotions sway him now. Instead, he runs his fingers over the silky surface of the object, but he can deduce what it is exactly. 

He huffs with tired frustration, dropping his arms at his sides, "What is this?" 

Ren calls the lights on just enough to see, sparring Hux's tired eyes, and takes the object from Hux's grip, "Stand up."

The general scoffs but obeys, feeling his legs wobble as he slides out of bed and stands to wait. Not a moment later, the familiar silky texture brushes against his bare skin and slips around his shoulders. He blinks then, and his brow furrows, while his mind tries to catch up.

With a quiet stride, Hux walks into the refresher to look at himself in the transparisteel mirror. Hanging off of his shoulders is a solid black robe, the silky texture reflecting oddly against the lights. The slight weight of the fabric hanging down feels familiar yet foreign at the same time - a ghost of the past, yet always something that has been with him. Granted, it wasn't the heavy wool of his beloved greatcoat, but that wasn't really what this was about. The robe would never be a full replacement, but it might be a patch for a still-healing wound. Something to help him cope. Hux despised Ren for making him remember (though he was also grateful). 

"Do you like it?" Kylo's soft voice came from the doorway where he was leaning, watching.

Hux turns and frowns at the Knight for interrupting, though he isn't really bothered. 

"Yes," he says simply, pulling the robe closed over himself (he was so much smaller without his layers). He exits the refresher and slips back into bed, lying back against the headboard. He's a little less tired than a few minutes ago, but he'd rather be sleeping regardless. He wonders if Ren will try to stay longer. 

"I would have never expected this from you. Though I suppose we've all changed somehow since Starkiller's demise." The title feels strange on Hux's tongue now, and he frowns again. 

"You haven't changed much," Kylo sits on the other side of the bed, running his fingertips over the sheets, "You're still adamant on doing everything yourself and not asking for help when you clearly need it." 

He turns toward the general and cups one of his cheeks, his voice coming quieter now, "It's a hard thing to admit to yourself, let alone others. But it's still something you shouldn't be afraid to ask for. This was my way of trying to get you to realize that." 

Ren lingers for a minute before taking his hand away and slipping off of the bed. He calls the lights off, and Hux can hear him going toward the door to leave. Hux lifts the sheets over himself, feeling the material brush against his robe. He sighs and lies down to sleep, drifting off to the feeling of silk against his skin and a fleeting hope of recovery in the coming days.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed! Feel free to chat with me on Tumblr if you'd like (@lukesterr)! Comments and kudos are very much appreciated!


End file.
